CULTURE & ARTS
Allen to buy the team contingent on a
public approved and publicly funded new
stadium.
The vote ended up being a close call. von
Reichbauer states that he received a call
from Allen thanking him for the opportunity
the night the votes came rolling in. von
Reichbauer replied saying, “Don’t thank me.
You’re giving up not only your money, but
something you prize more: Your privacy.”
Paul Allen has always remained a private
man in spite of his fortune and various
ventures.
The stadium rebuild was very controversial,
not even twenty-four hours after the
news of his death broke, Seattle city
councilwoman Kshama Sawant blasted
Allen on Facebook in a post that said, “Paul
Allen was known as a philanthropist. He
spent $250 million on the biggest yacht in
the world in 2003; he also owned two more
yachts and a fleet of private jets, several
sports teams. He paid to put the Qwest Field
on the ballot so that the working people
picked up most of the $425 million tab. He
spent half a million dollars to defeat the
I-1098 Tax the Rich statewide initiative in
2010.”
the surface to tell the story and legacy
of this complex, but polymath man who
forever altered our community. Allen and
Gates truly saw the future and created it.
The world is a very different place due to
personal computers. Technology would
not be where it is today if Allen did not
risk everything to drop out of college and
convince Gates to do the same, in order to
pursue Microsoft. The Seattle community
and world in general is a better place
because of Allen’s contributions that we
have all benefited from.
As Gates mentioned in his statement, Allen
is more than just Microsoft’s co-founder.
Allen donated over $2 billion over the span
of a couple decades. A true renaissance
man, whose legacy cannot be easily defined
when his accomplishments and accolades
are so far reaching. Allen after leaving
Microsoft, invested in his interests spanning
from conservation, aerospace, music to
arts and sports. Allen was a cornerstone of
Seattle, he reinvented the South Lake Union
skyline. Seattle would not be the culture-
tech hub it is today without Allen’s immense
contributions.
However, the Seattle Seahawks weren’t his
only professional sports endeavor. In 1988
at the age of 35 Allen bought the Portland
Trail Blazers for $70 million. He was the
youngest owner of a Big Four professional
sports team. These projects, investments
and donations don’t even begin to scratch
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